Forced air bottle cooler



E... A. www@ FORCED AIR BOTTLE COOLER me@ may 31, 19M :K shae-asmsnee.1.

INF/EN TUR.

,Wwfw @L f ymmlh E A a.. 52E/mmm J y FORCED AIR BOTTLE COOLER Filed May3l, 1944 s sheets-sheet 2 f N g March 11, 1947.

. l... A. PHILIPP FORCED AIR BOTTLE COOLER' I Filed May 31, 1944 3Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

BYW MLM nfrorlvey Patented Mar. il, 1947 FORCED AIR BOTTLE COOLERLawrence A. Philipp. Detroit, Mich., assigner to Nash-KelvinatorCorporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Maryland Application May31, 1944, Serial No. 538,161

l(Cl. 6ft- 102) 3 Claims.

My invention pertains to refrigeration apparatus and more particularlyto refrigeration apparatus for storing and cooling bottled merchandise.

It is an object of my invention to provide imscope of the invention,such as relate to the ar-l rangement, operation and function of therelated elements of the structure, to various details of constructionand to combinations of parts, elements, per se, and to economics ofmanufacture and numerous other kfeatures as will be apparent from aconsideration of the specification in conjunction with, the drawingdisclosing specific embodiments of the invention in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view, showing my improved refrigerationapparatus installed in a thermal insulating cabinet for storing andcooling bottles, the door being removed;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View partially sec.n tioned and broken awayalong line 2 2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing theconstruction of one of bottle supporting racks l or shelves; and

' Fig. 4 is an end view of said rack.

Referring more specifically to Figs 1 and 2 of the drawings, it will beseen that my improved refrigerating apparatus comprises a thermallyinsulating cabinet il enclosing a storage space or compartment it, andwhich may be of any conventional construction in accordance Withtheusual practice in providing household and other refrigerator cabinetshaving a door l5 which may be opened to provide convenient accessthereto.

In accordance with my invention, I provide, a plurality of bottlereceiving racks or shelves 'Il mounted inthe storage space i3 in thecabinet, in any suitable manner, as by supporting the ends upon pins I9projecting inwardly from the walls of the cabinet, so that bottles 20may be conveniently inserted or removed from the front of the cabinetwhile providing for free circulation of the air around the bottles, andalso providing for the storage of a maximum number of bottles which maybe so Varranged in a storage compartment. Also the stored bottles areall supported in predetermined positions in the storage compartment, asis subsequently described in detail.

Referring particularly to Fig. 2, it will be seen that I provide aircirculating means for causing air to circulate about the compartment. Asshown I have disclosed an air impeller 2|, which may be a centrifugal or"Sirroco type fan.

The air impeller is preferably mounted in an intermediate or centralportion of the compartment for drawing in air from the central portionof the storage space, as shown. As the air is thrown laterally orradially from this air im peller, its delivery is controlled by means ofair conduits 23 passing up and down the back wall of the cabinet andextending along the top and bottom thereof to near the front part of thecabinet and opening through registers 25, for delivering and directingthe 'air downwardly against and around the bottles, substantially in themanner represented by the arrows. The air delivery conduits 23 may bemade of any crosssection to suit the particular cabinetand storagespace, as will be understood, but as shown it is'usually preferable toutilize a cross-section which is rather shallow in front andback and upand'down directions while making it several times greater in its lateraldimensions. The

front walls of the conduits 23, in the intermediate portions vof thecabinet, are provided with for ward curved portions 23 defining theintake port for the air impeller and also serving as a support for acooler element 21 disposed therein for intimate contact with the airentering the air impeller in order to absorb heat therefrom. For thispurpose the cooler element 21 may be a nned refrigerant evaporator, andit may be sup plied withrefrigerant condensate from any suitablerefrigerant compressor unit (not shown) which may be installed in thebottom compartment 28 of .the cabinet or remotely, in accordance withusual practice. Preferably the evaporator is operated above the freezingpoint of water. An inturned flange 29 may be provided for receiving andsecuring the nned evaporator element in the intake port, which may alsobe provided with an annular apron or vane 3| for efficiently directingthe air into the air impcller.

To mount and drive the air impeller, an electric motor 33 may beutilized and it is preferably mounted outside and on the back of thecabinet with its shaft 35 extending in and supporting and driving theimpeller secured thereon as by a set screw or key in a well knownmanner. For convenience in assembly, the motorized air impeller unit ispreferably mounted in the back of a removable wall block 37 havingsuitable thermal insulating characteristics and preferably covered frontand back with suitable sheet metal in accordance with the usualconstruction of the cabinet walls. Additional bearing means 39 may beprovided in the front or inner side of the wall block, if the additionalstability is desired.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and more particularly in Figs. 3 and 4, eachbottle supporting rack i1 comprises a frame having a pair of side rodsor members 43 joined at the front end by end rod or member 4|. The siderods 43 are joined by vertical rods 5| which in turn are connected bytransverse rod 49. Rods 4|, 43, 49 and 5| are preferably joined of acontinuous piece of metal. A cross rod 42 extends between rods 43 at thelower rear part of the rack I1. A plurality of bottle supporting loops45 are mounted in the frame in a series relation between the two endmembers 43. For this purpose the loops 45 may be formed of asemi-flexible member such as a thick wire or a light weight rod andadditional or intermediate supports 41 are provided between each pair ofadjacent loops 45. The intermediate supports 41 extend between the twoside members 4| and 42. Preferably rods 42 and 45 are secured to rods 43and rods 41 secured to rods 42 and 4| by welding. The bottle supportloops 45 are disposed at a proper position between the two side membersso that each bottle received in the frame rests with its bottom abuttingthe back one 42 of the side members with the neck of the bottleextending toward the front side member 4| and being slightly inclinedand elevated, as represented in Fig. 2. The bottle support loops 45 arealso suitably conformed to support the bottles slightly spaced apart forthe circulation of air there between. The second or extra back rail 49is provided to pass parallel to and spaced above the back one 42 of theframe side members in order to support the bottoms of extra bottles 20'which may be piled upon and between each adjacent pair of bottlesresting in the regular support loops 45, as shown,

The main frame members 4|, 42, 43, and 49 of the bottle supporting rackare made of any suitable rod or bar structural metal of a size toprovide sufficient strength and rigidity for supporting a full load ofbottled goods. This frame can be actually formed or fabricated invarious ways one of which consists in bending a unitary piece to formthe front side member 4|, the two end members 43, and then turning it upand along the back to form the upperor extra back side frame member 49.The ends of this unitary piece are brought together and joined at anysuitable point, asv by welding. The back side frame member 42 may bethen inserted andsecured in between the back ends of the end members 43,where it may be secured, as by welding. Alternatively, the two long backmembers 42 and 49, with their end joining p ieces 5|, may be formed of asingle piece, and then another piece may be bent to form the front sideframe member 4| with two backwardly turned end pieces 43 welded thereto.Still another form may con- 4 sist of single piece bent and joined atIthe ends to form a rigid frame 4|, 43, and 42, and then the extra orupper back rod 49 may have down turned end pieces 5| welded thereto atthe back.

It is apparent that within the scope of my invention modifications anddifferent arrangements may be made other than herein disclosed, and thepresent disclosure is illustrative merely, the invention comprehendingvariations thereof.

I claim:

l. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a cabinet having insulated wallsenclosing a storage compartment, article supporting means mounted insaid compartment in vertically spaced apart relation, duct meansextending across the rear wall, top wall, and bottom wall of saidcompartment and having its .inlet end substantially midway between thetop and bottom walls with an outlet at the top wall and another outletat the bottom wall, a refrigerant evaporating element extending acrosssaid inlet end, air impelling means positioned immediately at the rearof said element and being arranged to cause air to move simultaneouslytoward said top and bottom walls through said duct means and out saidoutlets, and a motor positioned outside of said cabinet and beingoperatively connected with said air impelling means.

2. A bottle receiving and supporting rack comprising, a rectangularframe having two side members and two end members arranged on the samehorizontal plane, a plurality of bottle support loops extending inseries arrangement between and below and connected thereto said two endmembers adapted to receive a plurality of bottles side-by-side andspaced apart with the bottoms of the bottles when placed on the rackbeing adapted to engage one of the side members lah the necks of thebottles slightly inclined upwardly. and said necks being adapted tc reston the other of said side frame members.

3. A rack for refrigerators for supporting bottles on an inclined anglecomprising, a flat rectangular frame having two side members and two endmembers arranged on the same horizontal plane with the two side'membersbeing arranged in parallel relation and spaced apart less than thelength of the bottles adapted to be supported, a looped member extendingbetween and below and connected to said side members to provide pocketsadapted for receiving portions of the hottie: to be supported while theremaining portions thereof may rest on one of said side members on aninclined angle, adapted to engage the bottoms of bottles placed on topof theflrst bottles.

' LAWRENCE A. PHILIPP.

REFERENCES CITED l The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Number Name D. 30,331 Walker Mar. 14, 18992,005,939 Hibbard, Jr June 25, 1935 2,008,315 Schmidt July 16, 1935l2,018,002 Avery Oct. 22, 1935 2,279,483 Munshower Apr. 14, 19422,241,558 Read May 13, 1941 2,013,264 4Buder- Sept. 3, 1935 Tanner Oct.23, 1945

